Sometimes people ask me how I manage to cook and eat so much and not be a complete roly-poly. One answer to this could be that I think nothing of cycling ten km to cut some fresh chives from the garden of a friend who is on a prolonged Italian holiday. I also live on the third floor which means every time I have to go to the shop because I forgot to buy, say, chives I go down and over and up again. Did I mention i am not wo…

Erst war Flohmarkt auf der Theresienwiese, mit Fundstücken wie dieser grusligen Szene an einem Bahnhof - irgendwo in Deutschland.First there was the annual fleamarket at Theresienwiese (where the Oktoberfest will follow more quickly than anyone wants). I found this little crime scene at a station somewhere in Germany.Ein Mann verkaufte Gitarren, ich war kurz davor, mir eine zu kaufen aus, Nostalgie nach meiner Folkduo-Jugendzeit mit Luisa, damals im Danny's Pan/Songparnass . I was quite close to buying one of those beautiful guitars in memory of my folk-singing, guitar-picking youth - it's been a while since I sang "By the banks of the Ohiooo"!On my way to my Mum's on Sunday - auf dem Weg nach Grafing am SonntagThe woods were full of flowers - Wälder voller BuschwindröschenWe went to München to see the Clowns performance - my Mum was not all that amused, she didn't find them funny enough, she expected classic clownery, instead she got mediocre stand-up. Ice …

I have been doing economic research and market insights for about ten years now, but I can still be surprised by stuff. Recently, I was asked to write about the credit crunch and the lipstick effect. The what? It turns out that everybody knows about this - Google, Wikipedia, the lot. It is is a completely well-known marketing term that has been used since the 30s in America, like the one about short skirts becoming fashionable as soon as there is an economic crisis. Women will do without the new Bottega Veneta bag but not without the lipstick when things get rough, so when sales of colour cosmetics go up - beware!

not a care in the world: Barcelona fans auf dem Marienplatz, heute nachmittag.Football fans are whores: last week, after the rather disastrous result of the match in Barcelona, they would have flayed Klinsmann alive. Now they are blowing their horns outside in the streets, because Bayern München was not completely murdered by the others, they drew 1:1. But then, maybe those celebrating in the street are…

Early morning the light on my balcony is so strong and lovely. A branch I picke came up in little white flowers today, and the red fruit spread that one of my sister's culinary genius friends made was delicious (it's made of wild berries, rosehips and chili). Such a warm sunny Easter as a reward after the long winter. Family lunch was in a secret country pub - we don't tell anyone about it in case too many people from München go and they start serving Tiramisú and big salads with turkey strips. I made chocolate cake and there were chocolate eggs, followed by a long walk in the woods where my sister saw a real hare. I only hared it rustling.
Am frühen Morgen ist das Licht auf meinem Balkon zauberhaft. Ein Zweig den ich gepflückt habe, trug heute morgen kleine weiße Blüten, und der rote Fruchtaufstrich ist köstlich! eine der kulinarisch hochbegabten Freundinnen meiner Schwester hat ihn aus Waldbeeren, Hagebutten und Chili gemacht. Unser Osteressen nahmen wir in einer Liebl…

1990 in Ambach
Heute feierte Tallo ihren 60. Geburtstag - jetzt kommt dann einer nach dem anderen. Wir so genannten 68er werden alle 60, und da wir ja unsere Rente schon in jungen Jahren abfeierten, kommen jetzt die mageren Jahre auf die meisten zu. Zum Glück sind wir ja anti-materialistisch, ich werde zum Beispiel ganz sicher nichts abwracken und neu kaufen, und habe auch nichts dagegen, meine Möbel bei IKEA in der Billig-Ecke zu kaufen (bevor ich einen Buckel vom Arbeiten kriege, den ja unser Willi Brandt auch schon ablehnte). Hier ist der Geburtstagskuchen
Tallo, one of my oldest friends had her 60th birthday today. This is the cake I made for her - I call it Heart Tatin. All of us 68 generation either have turned 60 or will be over the next few years. Most of my friends have not much of a pension to expect, but as we used to say, we had our pension when we were young. And I am unlikely to use any of the "consumer incentives" to buy a new car in a hurry. Maybe another cam…